title: What are the major drivers of prevalent disability burden in young Australians?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine age and sex differences in the leading causes of prevalent disability in young Australians.
  
  
  METHODS
  We analysed data from the 2003 Australian Burden of Disease and Injury Study, which estimated the prevalent disability burden attributable to 170 diseases and injuries, for younger adolescents (10-14 years), older adolescents (15-19 years) and young adults (20-24 years).
  
  
  METHODS
  The broad categories of disease and injury that are the main contributors to prevalent disability and the 10 leading disease and injury causes of prevalent disability, according to sex and age group.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Total prevalent disability rates are lowest in younger adolescents and highest in young adults. Mental disorders are the largest "contributor" to disability in young Australians, and anxiety and depressive disorders are the leading single cause. In young males, autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder cause similar levels of disability as do anxiety and depression. In young females, eating disorders are the second leading cause of mental disorder disability. Alcohol use disorders and schizophrenia make important contributions to disability in young adult males. Asthma is the most prominent cause of physical disability in all three age groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There are substantial changes in both the pattern and level of disability burden across the three age groups that we studied. The increase in total prevalent disability that occurs from early adolescence to young adulthood should focus attention on the delivery of accessible and youth friendly health care as well as the effectiveness of transitions from child health services to adult health services.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Clinical Research, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia. r.mathews@uq.edu.au
authors.forename: Rebecca R S
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Mathews
authors.forename: Wayne D
authors.initials: WD
authors.lastname: Hall
authors.forename: Theo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Vos
authors.forename: George C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Patton
authors.forename: Louisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Degenhardt
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000453:epidemiology; D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000453:epidemiology; D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002659:Child Development Disorders, Pervasive / Q000453:epidemiology; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008881:Migraine Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D055815:Young Adult